


The Case for Redemption

by OmnipresentNuance



Category: The Loud House (Cartoon)
Genre: Alteration, Alternate Ending, Forgiveness, Gen, Making the Case, Trophy, Video Camera, apology
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-25 04:46:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21810280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OmnipresentNuance/pseuds/OmnipresentNuance
Summary: Lincoln seeks to find any way to let his sisters know how sorry he is for that humiliating video of them he uploaded and hopes a reluctant Luan will help out. After a very ill-thought out attempt goes bust, Lincoln figures a more personal and heartfelt route is what will get him back in the good graces of his sisters.
Kudos: 4





	The Case for Redemption

**Author's Note:**

> Greetings, readership! I now bring forth yet another digital written form based on our favorite family with a penchant for increased aural output after a day's worth of a break. Before we get going with what I have brought to the table today, once again I want to emphasize that stories which alter the events of certain episodes are not all I write about. In fact, following the next one after this, my first totally original Loud House story will make its debut, so stay tuned for that!
> 
> I feel like we're heading into some choppy waters for this one, because as everyone has already figured out by now, this one's based on "Making the Case", one of the more despised episodes of the series and the one that originated one of the most commonplace tropes in the fandom, that being Lincoln feeling he is inferior or inadequate compared to his sisters. For my personal opinion on this episode, I find it mostly just "meh", though it does have what I feel is the hardest moment to watch in the series thus far, which is the whole sequence from when Lincoln returns home to see his sisters seriously PO'd at him, all but practically disowning him for that video of his, and then the point when he deletes said video. In fact, it's right after he deletes it where this story kicks off. Though the events are altered, the overall trajectory is still the same with this story of Lincoln wanting to makes things right. It's how he goes about it that's different this time around.
> 
> All right, enough with that. Let us proceed in seeing how our favorite (and only) Loud boy will make amends with his sisters.
> 
> The Loud House is the exclusive property of Nickelodeon and Viacom. The usage of the setting, characters and such is based on nothing more than a pure affinity for everything and is not being used for monetary purposes.

"Well, I've done it this time..."

That depressing admission came out of Lincoln Loud's mouth, as he lamented over a seriously misjudged endeavor while he sat at the top of the stairs.

As part of a video making contest at school, Lincoln had secretly recorded multiple mishaps involving a number of his sisters. These ranged from mildly embarrassing like catching Lana snagging some chewing gum from the trash and Lynn falling into a pool of fizzy pop Lincoln had used earlier, to much more invasive and violating ones such as Lori letting out farts when no one else is around, Lucy making out with her bust of Edwin and perhaps the most transgressing of them all, when Luna performed a split in the air and tore a hole in her new pair of pants, then Lincoln crossing a line by zooming in on her underwear exposed by the hole.

Upon Lincoln uploading the video for the contest, it became the most voted on of any of the entries, even overtaking the most popular one of the bunch, HamstaCam, which was nothing more than a live feed of a hamster doing its daily activities. At the time, he felt like a shoo in for the trophy that would be presented to the winner. But it would've likely come at a very dear cost.

When he came home later that day, like he feared, all of Lincoln's sisters learned of the video and to say they were miffed may have been the understatement of the year. Being threatened with the specter of pulverization, he tried in vain to tamp things down by promising to delete the video, but it may have been too late. Now none of them were willing to speak to him at all, feeling that he betrayed their goodwill all in the name of winning the trophy from the contest just so he could proclaim to finally have something put in his barren section of the family trophy case.

Having since deleted the video like he said, Lincoln was now wracking his brain, trying to find a way to make up to his sisters. Right now, pretty much all of them were away from home, aside from one, as he looked over his shoulder to see Luan emerging from her room.

If there was any one sister Lincoln figured he disappointed the most, it had to be her. After all, while she may have not been featured in any of the embarrassing content in his video, she did extended her assistance to him and he completely wasted it, especially by violating the core unspoken tenant of never uploading something without the explicit consent of those involved in the recording. Yet at the same time, he felt like no one else could also help him out more than her, as an idea had crossed his mind and wanted to run it by her.

"Oh, Luan, thank goodness you're still here!" Lincoln said while he stood up from the top stair.

"Not interested in talking." Luan flatly stated.

"I know, but I need your help with something!" He said, trying to catch up with her as she walked right on by.

Luan paused for a second, then rolled her eyes dismissively, "Oh, I don't think that'll be a good idea, Lincoln. I think I've helped you enough for the time being and look how well _that_ ended up turning out!"

She continued in walking away from her brother. In an act of sheer desperation, Lincoln fell to the ground and flung his arms around her ankles.

"Please, Luan, give me another chance!" He begged her, "I'm so sorry for how everything turned out today! I should have know better and I want to make things better between us and the rest of our sisters, but I can't do that without your help. So can you please be willing to put aside whatever hard feelings you may have toward me right now and be able to help me out? _Please_?"

Looking down at her groveling brother, Luan gave out a look that mixed derision with some pity. However, at least in this moment, the latter feeling had more hold over her than the former. She may end up regretting this later on, but she sighed heavily and relented.

"Fine..." She said, "What do you need me to do?"

Lincoln stood up and smiled at his sister, "Just go get your video camera and meet me out back."

* * *

A couple of minutes later, Lincoln was out in the backyard, waiting on Luan to arrive so he could put his plan of getting back on his sisters' good side again in motion.

Finally, Luan did arrive with her video camera and its accompanying tripod at hand, curious as to what her brother had planned out.

"All right, so, uh...what do you need me to do?" She asked.

"Just simply record me and I'll take things from there." Lincoln responded.

Nodding in reply, Luan set up the tripod and then placed the camera on top of it.

"Oh, and one more thing, Luan." Lincoln said, "Whatever happens, do not stop recording, okay?"

"Uh...okay. Whatever you say, Linc." Luan replied somewhat cautiously.

With that being said, Lincoln got into position a few feet away from the camera and was mentally preparing himself. Internally, he wasn't so sure what he had planned may not be the most well thought out of things, but given the circumstances of everything, he assumed that it will be for the best. He took a deep breath and seconds after that, Luan gave him the signal.

"All right and...we're rolling, Lincoln!"

He turned to face the camera and smiled.

"Hey everybody, Lincoln Loud here. Well, you obviously know that. But anyway, on to the point of things. Listen, I know I really screwed up with what I did to you guys and all, and I recognize that. So I've been thinking about ways to make things even with you all and I believe this will be quite satisfactory. Plus, anytime you're feeling angry at me, you can just watch this again at any time to get your kicks off of it. I bet it would be very cathartic for you. So, you know when you all said you wanted to pulverize me?"

When she heard that last line from Lincoln, Luan began to have a very awful feeling about what's to come. Regardless, she continued filming like he told her and let him go on.

"Well, I've got a better idea. Why not I do a little something like this…?"

He took one of his hands and slapped himself right across the face. Immediately, Luan gasped lightly.

"Or how about this?"

Lincoln slapped himself again, but then shook his head.

"Nah, this is wussy stuff. What you'd really like to see is this…!"

He balled up his hand into a fist and punched himself square in the face.

"Lincoln!" Luan said following another gasp.

"Luan, don't stop!" Lincoln grumbled, "Anyway, what about this?!"

He punched his own face again, then he did so right to the solar plexus with an audible groan in pain.

"L-Lincoln, y-you don't need to do this to yourself!" Luan told him, her voice beginning to crack.

Lincoln growled and narrowed his gaze, "Luan, again, don't stop recording!"

"But...but..." She stammered.

"But nothing!" He shouted venomously, "In fact, I bet you'd like to take a swing at me right now! Admit it! Better yet, I bet you and the rest of our sisters have been dreaming for a long time about doing _this_ to me!"

Lincoln took his fist and recklessly swung it right on downward and struck himself below the belt, causing him to release an ungodly, agonizing wail as he fell down to his knees. It was at this point that Luan had seen enough.

"Lincoln, stop it! Enough already!"

She immediately ceased filming by shutting off the camera and rushed on over to his aid.

"Luan! I told you not to stop recording!" Lincoln let out hoarsely.

Luan shook her head defiantly, "No! Forget about that, Lincoln! You think I'm going to stand there idly and let you beat yourself up like that, and let you be insane enough to have me film it? What possessed you to do that in the first place?!"

Lincoln tried to maintain his own unyielding attitude, but the physical anguish he just put himself through and the wavering tone of his sister's voice couldn't keep things up within him. Feeling more guilty than he already did previously, he got into a sitting position and whimpered softly.

"I...I...I just wanted to do something in order to show how sorry I am for what I did to you and everyone else, so I thought since I put you all through such emotional hurt, I figured I had to do something in return..." Lincoln expressed unhappily.

"And somehow you thought hurting yourself was the solution?" Luan wondered, her eyes getting misty, "Lincoln, I hate to see you do that. It makes me feel really sad that you think that's what anybody would want to see."

Lincoln felt like he disagreed with that as he also felt his own eyes tearing up, "But you heard Lori earlier when she threatened to pulverize me, which I bet everyone else felt the same way, including you. After today, I totally have it coming. I'm...I'm just so sorry for everything! I hate what I did to you all and recognize how wrong it was!"

The proverbial dam broke inside Lincoln and he began sobbing softly. Not being able to contain herself that much better, Luan had her own tear flow start up. Despite that though, she reached out and brought her crying brother into a tenderhearted hug, letting him sob right into her shoulder.

"Oh, Lincoln..." Luan said lamentably, "Please don't ever do something like this again. I can't think of anything worse than seeing you abuse yourself over what's happened recently."

While releasing himself emotionally, Lincoln eventually returned the hug that his sister was giving him. For the next several moments, they held on to one another as Luan did her absolute best in trying to console her weeping brother.

In the following time afterwards, Luan pulled away and got a look at Lincoln's tearful, guilt-ridden face.

"Listen, if it makes you feel any better, I'm willing to say that I forgive you right now." She said, then took a moment to wipe her eyes before continuing, "I don't know if it's because you didn't have me featured in that video of yours or for feeling sorry after seeing you hurting yourself, but really, I am able to forgive you, Lincoln."

Through his teary eyes, Lincoln flashed a small grin. Hearing even just one of his sisters being able to express forgiveness for his transgressions meant the world to him.

"Thank you, Luan. I really needed to hear that, and I'm sorry again for everything, plus for what I did to myself just now. I can only hope that I will somehow find a way to earn the forgiveness of our other sisters, too." He said.

Luan reached out and reassuringly patted her brother's shoulder, "I think you will, Lincoln. You're not called the 'man with the plan' for nothing."

"I suppose not." Lincoln stated after a brief chuckle.

Feeling better about himself, he showed his thanks by hugging Luan again, which in turn she did for him as well.

"Thanks again, Luan." Lincoln reiterated, "I promise I will never upload something without someone's permission ever again."

"I'm glad to hear that, Lincoln." Luan said proudly, "And if you need any more help with whatever you may have planned for getting our sisters to forgive you, I'm available if you need me."

Lincoln smiled, "I'd appreciate that. I'll let you know if I need it."

Determined to make things right with the rest of his sisters, Lincoln stood up and was about to head back indoors, but was stopped by Luan.

"Wait, just before you go..." She began saying.

She placed both hands on Lincoln's shoulders and looked into his eyes.

"Just wanted to say it again, and I figure you'll already know better now, but to be absolutely certain, don't ever hurt yourself like that again. Promise me that, okay?"

"I promise, Luan. Never again." Lincoln replied with an affirmative nod.

Luan grinned and sweetly gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, "That's a good little brother."

* * *

Back indoors some time later, Lincoln paced the floor within his room as the gears in his head grind and clicked over what to do next. Whatever he wanted to do, it had to be something that proves just how sorry he really was to his sisters for broadcasting such humiliation to his classmates and potentially dozens more beyond that.

Seconds later, a smile formed across his face as a proverbial light bulb popped above his head. He figured he had just the plan for redeeming himself. But he wasn't going to do it alone.

With a new sense of motivation kicking him into high gear, Lincoln bolted out of his room and was heading over to speak with Luan in order to bring her into the fold of what he was planning now.

But when he approached the doorway leading into her room, he peered through crack of the door, since it just so happened to be partially left open, to see Luan digging through her closet while what appeared to be a whole stack of videotapes forming right at her side.

"Don't need this one. Or that one. Oof, this one's _definitely_ not sticking around." She could be heard saying.

Curious as to what could be going on, Lincoln knocked on the door and let himself in.

"Hey, uh, what are you doing, Luan?" He wondered.

"Oh, just doing some much overdo closet cleaning." Luan answered, not taking her focus away from the task at hand.

As she kept rummaging around, Lincoln approached his sister more closely so he can try to get a better idea as to what she was sorting through.

"What is all this stuff supposed to be, anyway?" He asked.

"It's basically a whole lot of footage of me filming you in funny or embarrassing situations." Luan explained, pausing for just a moment, "I call it my 'Comedy Fort Knox', though it's gonna be downsized quite a bit, because I'm getting rid of a bunch of these."

She resumed sorting through the tapes as Lincoln looked some of the ones that had been stacked up, presumably being the ones Luan claims she's getting rid of. He noticed that they had some very peculiar titles, such as "Lincoln's Greatest *Misses*", "Lincoln Barely Survives", "The **Most** FoolishLincoln Missteps", "Lincoln Boo-Boos", "Lincoln:(", "Lincoln Crying (3 hrs)" and "Lincoln Breaks Tailbone".

"Uh...I hope you never uploaded any of these..." Lincoln said cautiously.

"No, I didn't." Luan said with a shake of her head, "When I said that you should never upload something without the permission of those you recorded, I meant it. I only really kept these around so I can watch them again and again for my own sick pleasure."

She turned to the growing stack next to her and pulled out one tape she had now become particularly displeased with, the one labeled "Lincoln Crying (3 hrs)".

"In retrospect, this is the one I now hate the most. I mean, what kind of sister am I for finding any joy in recording my brother crying? That's just so wrong the more I think about it."

She placed that one back on the stack and again continued finding more tapes she wished to dispose of.

"Why are you doing this in the first place, Luan?" Lincoln asked.

Luan sighed and faced her brother, "Because I can't be a moral hypocrite, Lincoln. If you were able to admit that the video you made of our sisters being humiliated was wrong and not funny, then why should I be keeping such an inordinately large collection of embarrassing videos of you around? It's only fair if you ask me."

"But you don't have to do that." Lincoln said, "I mean, sure, now knowing you have this huge collection of embarrassing videos of me is kind of an unfortunate discovery, but as you just said, at least you've never uploaded any of them. The same can't be said for my video, and it was all for winning some stupid contest. That was not worth all the hurt and distrust I've unnecessarily caused in our sisters."

He let out a brief sigh, still stinging inside from the abject foolhardiness from his decision to enter said video in the contest before taking it down. Sensing his gloomy state, Luan put her task of ridding her closet of unwanted videos on hold so she could come over to Lincoln and give him some reassurance.

"Aw, don't go around still getting so hung up on that, Lincoln." She said while placing an arm around her brother, "Also, while I do appreciate your concern, I feel like this clearance of certain videos of mine is something I need to do, at least as a conscience clearing mechanism and as a way of making it up to myself, and now to you, for secretly recording you in so many unpleasant situations."

Following saying her piece, Luan brought her other arm around Lincoln to draw in into a soft embrace. Though he may not entirely get her choice in clearing out a number of her videos from her collection, he could never turn down a hug from any of his sisters, so he returned the favor.

"Oh, by the way, speaking of making up, have you come up with anything when it comes to making things right with our sisters?" Luan asked.

Lincoln nodded as he pulled away from the embrace, "Actually in fact, yes I have. The reason I was coming over to you in the first place was to ask for more of your help like you offered to earlier in the day."

Luan smiled at that prospect, "I'll take you up on that, Linc. Just as long as it doesn't involve you getting hurt again like before."

"Oh, don't worry, it's nothing like that at all." He said, "However, since you brought it up, you wouldn't happen to still have the footage from that, do you?"

Luan nodded, "Yeah, and thanks for reminding me. I still need to delete it, since I haven't gotten around to doing so yet."

She was about to take her video camera and delete that most unfortunate of incidents both from it and her own conscience, but much to her surprise, Lincoln stopped her.

"Actually, no, I need it for what I have in mind. Again, don't worry, it's not the main purpose of my plan. I just think it'll complement the much more positive aspects of what I've got planned out."

Though she had her doubts about persevering that regrettable footage, Luan was still curious as to what her brother had in mind and was willing and able to still help out.

"Um, all right then, Lincoln. If you say so. What do need me to do, anyway?"

"Like before, bring your video camera, but this time come over to my room." Lincoln explained.

With that request put out there, Luan grabbed her camera and followed Lincoln to his room. Once they made it there, Lincoln sat down on his bed before informing his sister on what his plan was.

"So here's what I've got, Luan. What I'm aiming for here is that I want to make an apology video where I individually express my sorrow to each sister for the humiliating moments I caught them in. You just stand there and record every moment while I do so, you got that?" Lincoln said.

"Got it. Sounds like a good plan, Lincoln." Luan replied with a thumbs up, "Tell me when you're ready."

Lincoln nodded and then took a deep breath, taking a moment in gathering his thoughts and working over what exactly he was going to say. After a little while, he felt like he was prepared and ready to roll.

"Okay, Luan, start filming...now!"

Getting the affirmation from her brother, Luan pointed the camera and hit the record button.

For the next several minutes, Lincoln gave an individual, emotional apology for every single instance in which he recorded his sisters in uncompromising states of embarrassment. With each subsequent apology, the tone of his voice got more wavering and he was getting closer to breaking into tears, especially as he described and expressed his sorrow for the much more inexcusable instances. His reactions were so raw and authentic that even Luan was having a hard time maintaining her own composure throughout the recording.

Near the end of his marathon of apologies, Lincoln did ultimately start crying, which he hoped in a way underscored just how sorry he was for the anguish he put everybody through due to his unfortunate choices. It got to the point that, in a spur of the moment act, Luan placed her camera on Lincoln's dresser, while it was still recording, and brought herself into the frame to show off giving her brother a comforting hug. She thought that putting in such a scene would add just that little more heartwarming impact when this recording eventually will be shown to their sisters and as a means to display that she did indeed forgive him for all that occurred.

Following the hug, Luan backed away and picked her camera up again, then Lincoln delivered one final, tearful statement to finish things off before the recording came to an end.

"So, uh...how did I do?" Lincoln wondered, wiping any remaining tears off his face.

"You were absolutely wonderful, Lincoln." Luan responded, sniffling slightly as a result of being so moved herself.

"You think so? I hope this will work so that our sisters forgive me, or at least spare me pulverization..." Lincoln said, showing hints of apprehension as he trailed off his sentence.

"Oh, I bet you they'll love it. But in the off chance they end up being foolish enough to try pulverizing you..." Luan stated while approaching him again and putting both hands on his shoulders, "Then I'll be the barrier to their battering ram, because they will have to get through me before they get to you."

Lincoln's face lit up upon hearing that, "Wow...you'd really do that?"

Luan nodded, "I sure would. If I hated to see you beat yourself up, imagine how I'll feel to see you get ganged up on by everybody. Let's just hope it doesn't come to that though."

Delighted to know that she would come to his defense should worse come to worse, Lincoln hugged Luan once again.

"Oh, thank you, Luan. I've should have mentioned this earlier, but I am so grateful to have been able to regain your trust." He said appreciatively.

"Don't mention it, Linc. After the lengths you've already gone to prove how much you regret what you've done, it's the least I can do." She said, returning the hug in the process.

After a few seconds within the hug, Luan pulled back and looked at her little brother with an expression of concern.

"Now, you said just a little while ago you actually wanted to keep that footage of you beating yourself up, which I didn't like hearing to be honest with you." She said, "Why is that?"

Lincoln flashed a confident smile, "Well, I'll explain why once we go back over to your room, because now I need your mastery of video editing for the next phase of my plan in trying to get back on our sisters' good side again."

* * *

In the later afternoon hours, all the remaining Loud sisters had came back home and were gathered around the couch watching TV. It was the perfect setup as Luan looked on from the stairwell with her camera at hand. Ready to initiate the plan she and Lincoln had put together, she came on down the stairs and stepped in the way of the TV to address everyone.

"Hey guys, do you mind if I could spare a moment of your time?" Luan asked of them.

"Um, sure, what for, Luan?" Lori wondered.

"Actually, it's not so much for me as it is for Lincoln." Luan answered back while showing off a light smile.

As soon as their brother's name was enunciated, everybody grumbled, grimaced, groaned or otherwise displayed a dour demeanor, which caused Luan's smile to quickly shift into a frown.

"Wow, you guys. Talk about souring the mood. You know, life is too _short_ to be having such _long_ faces." She said, complete with her typical laughter, "Get it? But seriously, please don't be like this. Give him a chance and I believe it'll be worth your while, 'cause it was worth it for me."

At their sister's insistence, they reluctantly agreed in what Lincoln had to offer up. While that occurred, Luan had set up the TV to the proper A/V settings and hooked up her camera to it.

"Say, where is our bro, anyway?" Luna asked.

"Why, he's right here and eager to express himself." Luan said with confidence, as she also stepped aside away from the TV.

While everyone was becoming quite confused as to what's going on, Luan scrolled through her camera and within seconds, the selected video of Lincoln queued up on the TV and began playing.

" _Well...uh, hey there, guys. I know you all probably can't stand the sight of me in person, so I figured that I would have this recorded for you. Actually, now that I think about, if you don't want to see me in person, you'd probably wouldn't want to see this, either. But I hope you are willing enough to spare just a few moments of your time to be able to hear this."_

" _As you all know, I did something so regrettable to you guys that I don't know you'll ever fully forgive me, and honestly, I wouldn't blame you. I could say 'I'm sorry' or 'I apologize' to you all collectively and it might not mean enough for everybody or even to me. So I thought I'd give out individual apologies for each unfortunate incident that I recorded of you."_

Following that opening statement, Lincoln took a deep breath as the sisters had changed their united reactions from disgruntled nonchalance to now watching and listening in more intently.

" _First off, Leni and Lisa, I'm sorry for recording you running into walls. Lisa, I know you can be nearsighted, even with glasses, and Leni, you're known to have your...moments, to put it as nicely as possible, but neither of those are your fault. Instances of klutziness like those should not have been filmed for comedic purposes and I'm sorry for that."_

" _Lola, I'm sorry for recording you in your sleep. No one should ever have to know that a camera is on them while they're asleep, especially for someone who takes their beauty rest as seriously as you do, and for that, I'm sorry."_

" _Lana, I'm sorry for filming you as you were getting some gum out of the trash. Normally, I know you're unashamed of eating or otherwise digging through the trash, but that's only when you're around us. There was no reason to then reveal such habits of yours, no matter how gross they may admittedly be, to complete strangers. I'm sorry that happened anyway because of me."_

" _Lynn, I'm sorry for when I recorded you in that sequence of mishaps that ultimately made you fall into that pool of really fizzy soda pop. Me and Clyde should have really cleared that pool out as soon as we we're done with it so at the very least you didn't have to suffer through that. In any event, I'm sorry."_

Up until that point in the video, Lincoln managed to keep a remarkably steady delivery of his apologies. That was going to change very soon, as he was approaching explaining away the much more objectionable of his regretful recordings. The emotion in his voice in the next set of apologies would really carry through and seep into the souls of his sisters, particularly those who he was about to address.

" _Lucy, I'm really sorry for catching you in the act of making out with your bust of Edwin. Sure, I'm not going to sit here and pretend that doing something of that sort isn't pretty creepy or how it shows you may have an unhealthy attachment to an inanimate object, but speaking as someone who still keeps a stuff_ _ed_ _rabbit with him, I guess it's_ _really_ _not my position to judge._ _Nobody needed to know of such a private moment of yours and again, I'm really sorry."_

" _Lori, I'm so sorry for when I filmed you as you were...um, breaking wind, to put it gently. True, in each instance, you were intentionally letting them out when no one else was around. But then again, having such embarrassment being shared to a bunch of fifth graders for some stupid contest wouldn't really count now as 'no one else around.' Plus, I also know that it's a problem you can't necessarily control and I shouldn't have exploited it for my own personal gain. I'm so sorry once again and now I don't blame you for wishing to pulverize me."_

By the end of that apology, tears had begun bubbling up in Lincoln's eyes as he also sniffled gently. The build-up of rising sorrow was only going to get more noticeable knowing the final apology he was about to issue. It was one for what was easily by far the worst and most inexcusable of all his secretive recordings and the one he had most regrets for, especially knowing who he unfairly victimized in this case.

" _And lastly, but most certainly not least...Luna, I-I can't even begin to tell you how sorry I am for when I recorded you splitting your pants and..and...zooming in to expose your underwear. Oh, what was I thinking do that? Was I even thinking at all? No, I couldn't have been! I crossed far too many lines that no siblings should ever dare go over. No one had more of a right to be angry at me and wished to give me some much needed pulverization than you, even if you're one of the sisters I feel closest to. Words cannot be enough to tell you just how sorry I am for doing this, the one I hate myself for doing more than any other one. I'm...I'm...I-I-I'm so very, terribly, awfully sorry!"_

Finally, Lincoln completely broke down and burst into tears following that most deeply sentimental of apologies. It was also shortly after his crying began when Luan inserted herself as she did to hug him for a moment. By the looks of things, thus far the video appeared to have the desired effects across their sisters, who all were now having their own tearful episodes commencing. They continued to keep watching on totally captivated as the recording was approaching its final moments just as Luan exited the frame and let Lincoln push onward.

" _Well, since she just happens to be here as you may have just saw, I feel like I must extend one last apology to you, Luan. Even though you weren't involved in any of those regrettable incidents or anything like that, I can't help feeling like I've disappointed you more than anyone. You generously extended your help to me and I completely blew it. I know you told me this already off camera, but I'm so sorry and hope you're able to forgive me."_

Right at that moment, Luan had turned the camera over to herself so she could have her own piece to say.

" _Yes, I am able to forgive you, Lincoln. I can only hope that the sentiment can be shared across several others, too..."_

The camera would be turned back to Lincoln so he can wrap things up.

" _One more thing to add. Regretfully, I thought at first the only way I could make up with you guys was to do something equally, if not more humiliating to myself, namely this..."_

The video would then abruptly cut to an abridged version of that now foolish recording of Lincoln beating himself up. The cut-up acts of self-abuse made his already saddened sisters react in horror over what they saw, with several acts of gasping, wincing and covering of mouths following through.

" _Yeah, that was such an awful idea. So glad that Luan stopped me when she did in hindsight. But anyway, no matter how ill thought out of an idea that turned out to be, that went to show just how badly I felt about what I've done. I guess to end things, I'm not sure if I've truly earned your forgiveness for everything, nor do I think I really deserve it, but I just wanted to at the very least show how much I regret my actions. For the final time, I'm sorry and I swear to you right now that I'll never, ever do something like that ever again. Anyway, I thank you for your time and I also want to end on a positive note by saying that I love each and every one of you. I really, really do."_

With those final touching words, the video came to an end. There was not a single dry eye in the room upon its conclusion. Even Lily, who neither was involved in any humiliating situations that were recorded nor did she really understand the context of what was going on, but nevertheless she too had begun softly crying, if for any other reason because of everyone else around her doing so as well.

At the same time in which they were crying, Luan had unhooked her camera from the TV and began recording again, having the feeling the something very special was going to occur.

"Safe to say that even though that you guys were stationary while watching that, you were very much _moved_ by what you saw." Luan said through some tearful laughter, hardly alone in being affected by the proceeding few moments.

"How couldn't we be? That was totes one of the sweetest things I've ever seen!" Leni stated in a weeping fashion. "I just wish that Lincoln was here right now..."

"Yeah, and I..." Lynn had begun saying, only to turn and notice Luan filming them, "Hey, why are you recording us?"

Everyone became fixated on Luan as she stood several feet away from them while holding up her camera in their direction with a smile.

"Oh, you could say that I have a feeling a very special Loud family moment will happen shortly." She said in response, "And what you just said now, Leni? I think that can be arranged, isn't that right, Lincoln?"

Confusion became the dominant expression on everyone's faces when Luan mentioned their only brother as if he was already in their presence. However, that ended being proven as the case when Lincoln walked around from his sisters' right side, revealing that he had been hiding behind the couch this whole time. He stood in front of them and put on the smallest of smiles as he was going to address them.

"Well, I'm guessing you guys liked that?" He asked before the smile quickly became a frown, "Because I hoped you did and once more, I am so sorry for everything. Also, if by some chance there's even a little part of you all that's still mad at me to the point that you still want to pulverize me..."

Before concluding that statement, Lincoln closed his eyes and open his arms and hands wide.

"Then here am I. Go ahead and get your shots in."

Hearing that from her brother, Luan felt herself become very tense. Though she thought such an occurrence was now improbable, she was willing and prepared to step in just as she promised him before should things come to a head.

As Lincoln braced himself for the possibility of being ganged up upon from his sisters, he did in fact feel a sudden surge of pain course through his body.

Except that it wasn't from a punch, kick or any other sort of physical attack, but instead from feeling two pairs of arms tightly wrap around him. He opened up his eyes and all he could see was a shade of purple from his left eye and a tint of light blue from his right eye. Right away, he could tell that he was the recipient of a very tight shared embrace coming from Luna and Lori.

"I can't possibly be mad at you anymore, little bro, after the way you successfully tugged at all my heartstrings." Luna said to him as she sniffled.

"Yeah, and since you were so heartfelt in your apologies, there literally no way that you should be pulverized or hurt in any way." Lori added through a strained tone of voice.

Suddenly, Lincoln would feel another set of arms hug him from behind. He turned his head around just enough to see that Lucy was the one who had now joined in on things.

"I knew you had it in you to be so deep...brother." She said, showing just that bit more emotion in her manner of speaking than usual.

To say that Lincoln was delighted to hear those three statements would be a huge understatement. His heart fluttered with alleviation, which only got better as one by one, the remainder of his sisters came along to join in on the growing gaggle of a group hug and expressed their individual forgiveness and admiration for his efforts. Eventually, Luan also added herself in the mass of sibling affection by putting one arm around them while holding up her camera to herself and everyone involved to deliver one final earnest address.

"All's well that ends well, the way it should and always will be for us."

After saying that, she ended the recording and put the camera aside so she could more properly get involved in the group hug, which lasted for a few moments until everyone detached themselves off from Lincoln.

"Hey, you should totally enter that video into that contest of yours!" Lynn enthusiastically suggested to Lincoln.

"You know what? That's not too crazy of an idea if you ask me." Lori added in agreement, "You should do that, Lincoln!"

"Wait, really? You think so?" Lincoln asked, surprised by such a proposition.

"I'd say so. Besides, something as deep and moving like that would stand out from the crowd." Lucy said.

"I concur with that sentiment." Lisa agreed with a quick nod, "Why should your class settle for some sort of juvenile tomfoolery in some vain hope of 'going viral', to use the inane vernacular, when instead they can be graced by your poignant video venture, dear brother?"

Encouraged by the words and endorsements from his sisters, Lincoln smiled and took their suggestion to heart.

"Well, if you guys say so, then maybe I will put it out there." He said, "I mean, there's a pretty tight deadline to meet and I'm not entirely sure I can enter another video after already uploading one and then deleting it, but let's see what happens."

"Hey, there's no harm in trying. Plus, I have an idea. How about I add in that part I just recorded at the end of to your video? It'd be a way to show that we did in fact forgive you and that everything is in good terms with all of us. Plus, it ought to make for an appealing emotional hook for anyone who watches it." Luan said.

Lincoln liked the sound of that, "That sounds like a plan, Luan. You've already helped me out so much today, so I can't possibly turn down that idea. All right, let's do it!"

* * *

The following afternoon, Lincoln was walking home from school, having a confident spring to his step while doing so. Thanks to the encouragement of his sisters, he entered his apology video in his class' contest and was feeling good about his chances. Though he wasn't up to date as to how many votes it attained so far, based on some of the positive feedback he heard from some of his classmates, he felt it had to be in the running, and since his class was well aware of what he was apologizing for, it did ultimately make sense in the end for that video to be uploaded.

As Lincoln made it home and opened up the front door, he was greeted by the all too familiar sight of all his sisters waiting for his arrival. But unlike last time when they were completely enraged at him, they were all stricken with a case of eager anticipation, wanting to know how their brother's most recent video entry had done.

"Oh, uh...hi, you guys. Have you been waiting for me?" Lincoln wondered.

"Of course we were, Lincoln! We wanna know how you did in your video contest thingy!" Leni answered happily.

"Did you win, did you win, did you win?!" Lana and Lola emphatically asked in tandem.

"Actually, I don't know." Lincoln admitted, "I haven't checked the results recently. I guess I wanted to wait until I came back home so we can all look together. So, how about that?"

All his sisters cheered in approval and with that, Lincoln went over to the computer just to the side of the staircase while his sisters crowded behind him.

"Okay, here we go, guys. And the winning entry is..."

Lincoln scrolled around for the link leading to the listings of the video contest. He clicked on it and everyone around him squealed happily, thinking the desired winning result would show up on screen.

But when the results came up, complete shock and devastation were scrawled on their faces.

"Are you literally kidding me?" Lori said exasperatedly.

The results were finalized, and unfortunately for them, HamstaCam came out on top. But that wasn't even the most crushing aspect of it. Lincoln's video did manage to achieve second place just behind HamstaCam...and lost by only one vote.

"What? _That's_ what beats out your video? A freakin' hamster? Weak!" Lynn expressed in disappointment.

"Pssh, I've should've expected better from fifth graders. What was I thinking, actually figuring that they'd be enraptured by such a work of emotional art, only to be easily hoodwinked through cheap entertainment involving a rodent…er, uh, present company excluded." Lisa grumbled, correcting herself at the last minute as to not include her brother in the broad brush she just painted his class with.

Sporting a look of complete defeat of his face, Lincoln swiveled around on the chair he was sitting on and faced his sisters.

"I'm sorry about this, guys..." He said discomfited.

"Well, don't they give anything out for second place?" Lucy asked, "I mean, it was so close, they have to give something out, right?"

Lincoln shook his head regrettably, "As far as I can tell, no, they don't. Only first place gets a trophy."

He sighed and buried his face within his hands.

"I'm sorry again..." He reiterated, "This is the second time I've disappointed you all in the last two days."

Lincoln groaned softly, feeling like he had failed his sisters again after getting their hopes up that he'd finally at long last would be able to have something grace his space within the family trophy case. He lowered his head further down in shame, but did look back up when he felt a hand affectionately clamp onto his shoulder that had belonged to Luan.

"Aw, you didn't disappoint us, Lincoln. You gave it your best shot and that's all we'd ask for. Plus, it's like you said yesterday, you didn't know if you would be able enter another video in such a tight time frame. The fact you came _this_ close to winning is can be seen by itself a win in a sense." Luan said, garnering a broad, universal series of overlapping agreement from the rest of the sisters.

"Really, you think so?" Lincoln asked.

"I'd say that's pretty much the consensus." Lori replied before she stepped forward and knelt down to her brother's level, "But more importantly, Lincoln, we're all so proud of you for the lengths you went in redeeming yourself over what you've done. For that alone, you're always going to be a winner in our eyes."

Letting a small smile take shape, Lincoln practically leaped out of the chair and flung his arms around Lori, which she seemed to anticipate as she caught him in her own embrace. Just seconds after that, everyone else joined in encircling him within a group hug as their way of sharing in the sentiment that Lori had just expressed.

"Now, whether or not you ended up winning the contest, we all thought we should do something special in order to show just how much we appreciate what you've done and in general." Lori said, right after everyone dispersed from the group hug.

"Yeah, go check out the trophy case, bro! I think you're gonna love it!" Luna expressed happily.

Curious as to what this could mean, Lincoln did just that as he bounded over to trophy case. Once he got there, he was elated at what he saw in his section of it.

In addition to a small makeshift trophy engraved with the words "Most Improved Brother", sitting underneath that happened to be a videotape with a label written on the side. Lincoln smiled as he read out loud the label in question.

"'Lincoln's Case for Redemption (Spoiler Alert: He Succeeded Big Time!)'"

His smile got wider as he felt Luan joining him by his side and put an arm around him.

"It's the first time I've ever written a genuinely positive label for a video featuring you, and I can guarantee you it won't be the last one. And as far as I'm concerned, this video has as much worth to it as any trophy you could've ever gotten." She said.

Lincoln was simply overwhelmed with such high spirits. Though he was disappointed at first that he didn't win the video contest, winning back the unwavering trust of his sisters meant more than any trophy or award could ever mean. But in particular, it was the sister who was standing right next to him that in his mind really made this all possible, and there was no better way to show off his admiration for her than with a loving hug.

"Luan...I can't thank you enough..." Lincoln said, his voice wavering with emotion, "None of this would have happened if it weren't for you. You were the only one who would even so much as speak to me after making that awful video. Your help made this possible and I don't know how I'll ever be able to repay you for doing so."

Luan smiled as she reciprocated the hug, "In fairness, I was the only other one at home at that time. But anyway, there's no need for repayment, Lincoln. I'd say you being our brother that which we're so proud of is all we can ask for in return. And while I appreciate you thinking I played a major role in everything, I would say you're the real highlight in all this. You did all the heavy lifting in winning back our trust, while I was really only around to spread the word. This was truly your doing and I think I can speak for everyone that if anybody really deserves all the thanks in the world, it's you. We're so thankful for you, Lincoln, and we'll always love you for that, too."

The kind, everlasting words coming from Luan did Lincoln in. His eyes welled up as he pressed his face right into her shoulder and wept, but out of nothing but joy and relief.

As Luan held on to her brother as he let the tears flow freely, she turned over to see their sisters watching on just beyond the hall, with Lori holding up Luan's video camera to capture the moment unfolding before them.

"Don't mind us, we're only sitting back and letting another special Loud family moment take its course and be recorded for posterity." Lori stated with a wink.

All Luan could do was smile proudly as she turned her attention back on over to Lincoln, still taking a moment to let his emotions pour on out. Finally, he ceased weeping and wiped his eyes after he pulled out from his sister's arms. He showed off a smile of his own, which was only bolstered further by the emphatic kiss on his cheek that Luan would give him.

"You've done good, Lincoln." She said, "We're never going to forget this, that I can be sure of."

Safe to say, Lincoln's cycle of redemption was complete and there was no way he'll ever attempt something to seriously mar his sisters' trust again. The only thing he will seek now is their unyielding love, care and affection, which they would be more than accommodating to offer up to him from that point onward thanks to his own efforts in showing his devotion to them, which only goes to show that with a little hard work, nothing will ever truly come between them that could ever break the eternal loving bonds shared among them.

**Author's Note:**

> Oh, I'm just the sentimental sort, aren't I? The love shared between these adorable eleven kiddos just tickles the soft, sweet region of my soul, as I'm sure it does with all of you. Oh, and yeah, you read that right: "engraved". I figured that the sisters could spring a little more effort in their makeshift trophy of theirs than just slapping on a written label. The how, when and logistics of everything wasn't something I admittedly didn't really think through, though, but it's something I felt was nice of them to do.
> 
> Okay, another one down. Tell me what you think if you like and we'll all be back, you, me and everyone else for more storytelling!


End file.
